Vendée Globe - Kito de Pavant ready to line up

by Vendée Globe on 17 Apr 2015 The French sailor Kito de Pavant will be lining up in the 2016 Vendée Globe thanks to the support of Bastide Médical and the HBF group, who were his partners in the 2014 Route du Rhum. The skipper from le Grau-du-Roi on the Mediterranean coast has acquired Alex Thomson’s IMOCA Hugo Boss (Jean-Pierre Dick’s former Paprec-Virbac 3 from the last Vendée Globe). The boat which will be renamed Bastide-Otio, will be competing in the Transat Jacques Vabre next autumn.

After creating the Made in Midi team in 2013 and having competed in the Transat AG2R-La Mondiale aboard a Figaro Bénéteau and the 2014 Route du Rhum on a Class40, the sailor is back competing in the IMOCA circuit after being absent for two years. He is about to begin to prepare for his third attempt at the most extreme solo round the world race. “I got into the Vendée Globe ten years ago and it’s still unfinished business for me. When I set up the Made in Midi team in 2013, I dedicated myself to doing what I like - sailing! That is what gave me the desire and energy to get back in the Vendée Globe. The adventure began with the last Route du Rhum with Bastide Médical and Otio, and I’m pleased to have transmitted this energy to them, so that now they want to go even further. This new project is really a Southern one, so I couldn’t have imagined anything better.”

The 60’ Bastide-Otio monohull

Launched in 2010, the 60’ IMOCA, Hugo Boss (ex-Virbac-Paprec 3) is the result of a joint collaboration between Van Peteghem-Lauriot Prévost and the architect, Guillaume Verdier. The 18.28m boat won the Barcelona World Race in 2011, the 2011 Transat Jacques Vabre and finished fourth in the last Vendée Globe in the hands of Jean-Pierre Dick. “We had the opportunity to buy a good boat, in good condition, one that has been sailed by strong teams. After the recent dismasting of Hugo Boss in the Barcelona World Race, a new rig is currently being built. As for the keel, which dates from last year, it already fits in with the new standards in the IMOCA 60’ rules. We will be able to fine tune her taking advantage of the most recent updates in the class, by adding foils for example. There are a lot of possibilities keeping in mind that we want a boat that performs really well! ‘Hugo Boss’ is closely related to Groupe Bel, my previous IMOCA 60’, so I’ll be able to make use of all that experience,” explained Kito de Pavant, who will be getting his hands on the Bastide-Otio monohull in le Grau du Roi-Port Camargue in early July.